Milking-machine



H. A. McARTHUR.

MILKING MACHINE. APPhcAnoN FILED JUNE 10, 1918.

Patenfed Aug. 31, 1920.

2 SHEETSSHEE'I l.

H. A. McARTHUR.

MILKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 10, 191B.

7 Patented Aug. 31, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEER 2 B Q NM. E a NM wh Q R m mnwm. m. m. w l i 9% avwewroz Q 0nd? EEO pairs 7 Application .filed June 10.

T 0 all whom ill may concern: f 'Be it'lanown that l, HERBERT A. Moi'ln'rr-iUR, a subject of the King of Great l ritain, residing at Montreal, l rovince of iQI-uebec Dominion of Canada have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Milking-Machines, of which the following is a description. I

This invention relates to improvements in machinery for'milking cows and has for itsv principal object the production of a machine which will effectively perform the milking operation ata minimum expenditure of power and which at the same time is simple and'easy to install, operate and maintain in proper condition." 7 o Most milking machines in use at the present day utilize suction for extracting the milk from the teat, a pulsating action being produced-either directly in the teat receiving chamber of the teat cup as in single chambered cup machines, .orin a chamber surrounding a flexible teat cup lining, as in doublechambered cup machines, the object of the pulsations ineither case being to relieve or massage the teat and prevent congestiontherein. In both classes of machines, the pulsation action h as commonly been produced-by the periodicadmission of air either at atmospheric or higher pressure tothe teat cups and someor all of the other parts of r the system. This has resulted in a considerable amount of-power being requiredto,

operate the machine as after each pulsation, the air adm tted had to be drawn out by the vacuumproducing apparatus. Although the quantity of, air admitted at each pulsation is in many cases small, as pulsatlons occur n the neighborhcodof fifty to sixty times a minute, it will be. seenth'at the total amount of air required to be handled is considerable.

In accordance with my inventionI produce.

other fluid in accordance with the reciproca- V tions.

the pulsations by the movement into and out of the teat cups of a confined body of air or tions' of. a piston or equivalent means and Without admitting. any additionalair to the system for the purpose of producing pulsafurthermore prefer to balancethe action of two of the pulsation oroducing devices against each lother, operating the devices to produce plusations alternately :in different teat cups or sets of cups whereby- .the back pressure resulting from thepulsa tions in one. set of cups is utilized to assist in produein'gthe pulsations in thealternate ,sra'rss' MILKING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

rarest orric z.

' HERBERT AQM ARTHUR, or MoNrnEAneUEB o, CANADA.

1918. SeriallSTo. 239.108.

7 Patented Aua31 ,=i92a J1 I set. As a consequence there isvery little loss of power and the capacityoi the vacuum' producing devices as well as the power utilized in operating the same isreduced to a minimum. My invention, in its preferred form, also contemplates the provision of a self-contained portable apparatus and certain, other 'fdetail features the nature and specific objects of whichwill clearly appea from the following description of certainv preferred embodiments of my, invention which I have. chosen toillustrate the principlc thereof and the best mode now known to me for performing the same.-

In the accompanying drawings indwhich' I illustrate such preferred vention. a

Figure 1 1s a diagrammaticv view invertical section illustrating itself-contained milkin ;.unit.

. *zig.. 2 is-a horizontal sectional View on line II+IIofFig.1. Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic-view in side elevation illu'stratinga modified construction;

forms of the in- ;Fig. l'isa-view similar toFig. l1, of a. part of a unit; showing another modifiedgconstruction.

Referring to particularly to Figs. 1 an'dj2, the numeralv 1 designates a inilkpail adapted to be tightly closed by a lid; 2. which in the present in stance carries casing 8 conta1n1ng the vacuum producing and" pulsating devices.

produce vacuum; .in 4 the which-Q will nct'throughthese connectionssand will draw.

the detail'and Q "iiTh in ilkpa s r mf if this chamber: 7 through the "connections ='described directlyintopthe pail. .In order to the milk from theteat; suitable. vacuum pro;

vdueing means are providedwhich inthe constructionillustrated compriselasmallvacw] um pump- 14 mounted withinthe casing/3 havinga piston 15 reciproc -atedby conv v stai s is at h J esteem? n a.

crank-shaft 18. The crank shaft 18 may be operated in any suitable manner, preferably by a small electric motor 19 mounted within thecasing and acting to drive the crank shaft through worm 20 and worm wheel 21. The pump 1a which isillustrated as double acting is provided at its ends with inlet valves 22 through which air is drawn from a chamber 23 as the piston moves back and forth, and with outlet valves 2a through which the air is discharged. The chamber 23 communicates through a suitable connec- Loft anexcessive vacuum in tie pail.

tion 25 with the interior of the milk pail so that the air is drawn out of the pail and a part al vacuum maintained therein. A regu lating valve 26 is preferably" provided on the pail lid so as to prevent the maintenance ihe ' operation of the pump for a few moments will serve to exhaust the pail to a sufficient degree to draw in the milk and the continued operation of the pump will readily maintain the vacuum and take care of any air brought in with the milk or leaking in around the'top of the teat cups.

In order to produce the pulsating action in the outer chambers 8 of the teat cups, these are connected by pipes 30 with the manifold 31 of the claw 11 which is in'turi'r connected by pipe 32 with a nipple 33 opening into a pulsating cylinder 34:. Another 7 similar, set of teat cups .(not shown) is pro- V I vided, the pulsation chambers of which are i connected in a similar manner with the nipple 33 opening into a second pulsation'cylinder 34 oppositely disposed with relation to the first cylinder;

these cylinders. Suitable means for reciprocating this rod are provided, the means shown comprising 'a'lever37lfulcrumed at 38 to'the pail lid and having at its upper end ayoke 39 embracing the piston rod and adapted to engage alternately with the ad justable collars 40 mounted on the rod. The

. lever 37s oscillated. by means of'a'pitman 41 attached to a crank 42 on the motor driven crank shaft 18. The operation of the motor thus causes thelever to move the pis-c tonrod andipistons back and forth in their respective cylinders thereby causing alternate pulsations offpressure and suction in the cylinders and through the connections. therefrom to the urer teat cup chambers "8i YVhen one ofthe pistons 35 is moving away from-the outer end of its cylinder it will be seen that suction will be produced which will draw theteat cup lining '6' away from the teat'thereby permitting the milk to flow, while when the piston 35 operates in the opposite direction this suction or vacuum Twill be destroyedand azcondition of relative pressure produced, whereby, owing to the i a' uum withinthe inner chamber of theteat the m will aused to Qollap'se V Pistons 35 connected to a common piston rod 36 reciprocate lll' upon the teat and relieve and massage the I same. Owing to the alternate action of the two pistons 35 it will be seen that the atmospheric pressure acting on the back of one of the pistons, forinstance, the piston at the right hand side of the casing as shown in Fig. 1, is tending to move this piston in such a direction that the movement'thereof 'will assist in'moving the other piston so as.

to produce the suction on that side of the apparatus. Thus the two pistons tend to bal ance each other and the power required for .their" movement is'minimized; Furthersystem but the power needed is simply that required to cause the actual massaging action on the teat. The degree ofmassaging orpulsating action to which the teat is to be subjected may conveniently be adjusted by varying the length'of stroke of the pistons 35. This may be accomplished in any suitable manner, for instance, by the adjustment'of the collars 40 so as to permit'more or less lost motion between the lever 37 and the piston rod 36; The cylinders 34 are v preferably provided with relief means in the i form of outwardlyopening check valves 43 which prevent the creation of any excess of pressure in the cylinders. V V r The construction described presents a mechanism requiring very little power for operation thereby among other advantages enabling the apparatus to be-driven by an electric or other motor'of small proportions. v

This in turn permits the construction of the apparatus, if desired, as self-contained unit which may be readilymoved 'fromplace I to place and the only connectionwith which need be the electric wiring necessaryto supply current for the operation of the'motoiza; Thus all vacuum piping, driving rods or 7 similar permanent installations in 'the cow" stable may be dispensedwith.

In some cases, however, it may'no't .be' dellO' sired to constitute the; apparatus assa selfmodified construction ein alo in "certain features of my "invention in which a pump is utilizedrdriven by a reciprocating driving rod, extending through the cow stable; accordance with this constru'ction a milk pail 50' is provided on which fits a lid '51 carrying the milk cocks 52 and also carrying a vacuum chamber-53 communicating with the interior of the milk pa l through or the casing 54 in which is an upwardly opening check valve 55'- Two, sets of teat cups l connected to claws ,ll are; milk manifolds of the claws contained unitand in Fig, 31 have shown a ovided, the f-being conmeans shown for. thisv purpose comprising 7 and increase it on the opposite side in an ing check valve 61. The vacuum chamb 53 is preferably also provided with the vacuum relief valve'62wh1ch prevents the production of an excessive degree ofvacuum in thischamber andin'the .milk pail and teat cups. Extending through .the'pump cylinder 6015 a piston rod 63 which passes through stuffing boxes-6 at each end of the cylinder and mounted on this piston rod 18 a piston 65. Thepiston'rod and piston may be reciprocated in any-suitable manner the the drive rod 66 extending through the cow stable and adaptedto be reciprocated bya pitman 67 and driving wheel 68. The. move ment of the piston 65 in one direction will decrease the-.ipressure on one side thereof obvious manner. Back of the piston where the pressure 1s decreased a partial vacuum is produced which will cause air to be drawn through one of thetubes 58 andthrough the check valve 61 from the chaniber 53 and accordingly from the milk pail.

A partial vacuum will thus be produced in the pail which will cause the'milk to 'be' drawn from the teats and through the milk passage of the manifold and pipe 12' into the pail. The same movement of the piston 65 will also produce an increase in pressure-in front of the piston in the second pipe 59. and through the branch 56 of the second Y connection, pipe 32 and connections, to the outer chambers of the second set of teat cups. This will produce the desired pulsating and massage action in these cups.

Any excess of air in the cylinder 60 in frontof the piston will be drivenfout through the appropriate discharge valve- 69, one of which is provided at each end of the cylinder. valves 61 it will be seen that no'air canbe forced from the cylinder into the chamber. 53 and milk pail so that so far as these parts of the apparatus are concerned the pump 60 acts as avacuum. pump while at the same time causing the necessary pulsa tions in the outer teat cup chambers. v

As in the form of my invention pre viously described it will be seen that the forces acting upon the opposite sides of the piston 65 tend to balance each other and also that there is no admission of air from the outside into the outer teat cup chambers. Thus the power required to operate the apparatus is kept at a minimum as in Owing to the presence of the check the previ'ous case and there. is noexcess -of air to be handled by the pump... .--i-

In Fig. 4 I have shown amodified con struction of suction pump adapted to be utilized in a unitsuch .as shown inFig. -1, but involvlnga novel principle of construction and operationwhich I believe to be applicable in general to ethe suction producing devices of milking. machinery- The ob ect 1 of. this construct on; is to prov de suction producing means wh1ch;can be adjusted to create a; substantially definite and predetermined degree ofvacuum which will in no case be'exceeded. -Tl11S1S important in milking apparatus as an excessive -de- '3 gree of suction'may be seriously injurious to'the' cow. At the same tlmehby my 0011-. struction of vacuum producing means the necessity for-relief valves andpermanently. 1

attached vacuum gages is'obviated. '1 accomplish the object named by regulating or-determiningthe amount of clearance .in'

the vacuum pump, the degree vacuum which thepump is capable-of producing being determined by this clearance. In the par ticular construction. shown in Fig. dyvhicll illustrates a single acting pump the amount of clearance may. be varied by adjusting the initial position of the piston 15. This is accomplished by attaching the piston 15 to the cross-head which is connected to the. connecting rod 16 bymeans of a pair of piston rods 71 screw threaded on-their I ends and passing through lugs 72 on op-' posite sides of thecross-head; The adjustable. nuts 73 onflthe rods clampthe lugs 72 and provide for thefsecuringof the pistonat the desired distance from the cross-head.

In thisway the clearance between the 'pis- 3 1 ton and'cylinder head, when the piston is at the outer limit of its movement, may be adjusted and theamount of vacuum which. j the pump will produce canthus be predetermined- 4 illustrates the piston adjusted so as to providethe minimum clearance, and consequently with this adjustment [the pump will produce the maximum vacu-- um of which it is capable. By shortening the rods 71 so" as to bring the piston 15 nearer to the cross head 10 the clearance will be increased,- and the highest vacuum which the pump will produce will therefore be decreased' Thecapacity of the pump.v is preferably made suflicient so that variations in the suction due to such slight lealn age'as mayjoccur will be.; negligible.

whiie I have shown and described inaqf tail certain preferred constructions illustrative of my invention I realize that modifications may be made therein and I do nottherefore desire to limit myself to such specific constructions but intend to cover principle may be embodied.

Having thus described my invention what 7 'my invention broadly in whatever form its.

v I claim as new and desire to secure by Let.-

ters Patent is: i

l 1. In a milking machine the combination of double chambered teat cups, double acting pumpingmeansacting on one stroke to force fluid pressure into the outer chambers of one cup orgroup of cups and at the same tiniecreate suction 1n the outer chamber of another teat cup or group of teat cups and on the oppositestroke to reverse such conditions of suction and pressure,

and means for applying suction to the inner teat cup chambers.

2. In a'milking machine the combination of double chambered teat cups, a pumping system comprising a reciprocating piston and cylinder means adapted to produce pressure in one part of said system and simultaneously produce suction in another part of said system and vice versa, connections between the outerchambers ofdifierent teat cups or groups of teat cups and the respective parts of the pumping system, and means for applying suction to the inner teat cup. chambers. V

' 3..A portable'milking unit comprising a milk pail, a lid therefor, a casing mounted on the 11d, a vacuum pump in the casing,

pistons in the cylinders connected by a common piston rod, a motor in the casing, driving connections from said motor to said vacuum pump and to said piston rod, and

groups of double chamberedteat cups, the

outer chambers of the cup of the respective groups being connected to the respective pulsation cylinders and the inner chambers of teat cups, a suction pum'p for producing suction therein and means for varying the clearance of the pump to adjust thedegree of suction to be produced.

HERBERT A; MQARTHUR.

a pair of pulsation cylinders in thecasing, 

